A few months ago, gripped by baking fever, I purchased Mary Berry's Baking Bible. I quickly decided to embark upon a mission to bake everything in the book, and turn myself from an occasional baker into a bit of an expert. My Grandad Ern was a Master Baker by trade; the man responsible for introducing Danish Pastries to England in fact, and I wish it had occurred to me to spend more time learning from him, rather than simply enjoying the fruits of his effortless labours. This project is almost a way of making amends for that; I'd like to follow in his footsteps (if not in my career, at least as a hobby) and continue the proud heritage of baking in my family.
I credit my friend Rachel with the idea to write a blog about my baking exploits, hoping that there will be more successes than failures as I attempt all 213 of the Queen of Baking's recipes.
So as not to bore the husband with a monotonous diet of sponges, followed by weeks of biscuits, I've decided to tackle the recipes by selecting the first bake from each chapter, followed by the second recipe and so on. I'm not going to pick and choose; I'm determined to face my baking demons and learn how to do everything baking-related, even if the consequences are disastrous!
Everything will be photographed, with comment about how I found baking it, and a husband rating (to be taken with a pinch of salt as he has a very selective cake-tooth).


Saturday 24 October 2015

77. Apricot and Walnut Sandwich Bars

I selected these for my next bake because I wanted to bake something 'healthy' with and for my daughter. The first thing that amazed me was her eagerness to eat some of the dried apricots, when I hadn't previously been able to tempt her with any! She was a very helpful assistant in what was a pretty easy bake. I keep meaning to buy some scissors for apricot cutting, but there weren't too many to chop up for this one. As in the case of the date recipes, I had to cook the apricots in some water to make them gooey before assembling the bars: a layer of the biscuit mixture, then an apricot layer, then a topping of the biscuit, which was actually much like a crumble. I made a substitution in the recipe: mixed seeds (pumpkin, sunflower and linseed) instead of walnuts - mainly because I didn't have any walnuts, but also because I'm not a huge fan of them and because Elizabeth currently has a liking for pumpkin seeds.
One of the issues with baking with what I would call 'chewy fruit' (which becomes especially chewy and even 'chanky' - as those of Field origin call it - when baked) is that cutting the bake into slices is really difficult. This was a very crumbly mixture, and I didn't cut it into 8 bars, as Mary suggested, preferring to create smaller squares for easy nibbling. There was, as a result, lots of crumbs. Not really a problem though; I'm good at hovering crumbs up.
Baker's verdict: a little bit fiddly to make and a pain to cut into squares/bars. Very buttery and moreish. A shame the toddler in residence didn't really like them (she is suspicious of anything with 'bits' in, and had decided she didn't like apricots after all) but maybe she will when she's older.
Husband rating: 9/10 - just a bit different really. Nice touch with the seeds and a bit like the date bars from Stuart. A bit chewy but crumbly at the same time and soft and oaty. Very moreish.
Postscript: Husband didn't get to experience many of these as me and my Dad polished off a significant amount before he even got to them!
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